GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 264 Shares of Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Webster Financial Co. (NYSE:WBS) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Webster Financial were worth $113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Webster Financial by 340.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Webster Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Webster Financial by 117.9% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Webster Financial by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WBS. Stephens set a $58.00 price objective on Webster Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Webster Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Webster Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Webster Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Webster Financial from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Albert Jen-Wen Wang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.43, for a total transaction of $209,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $748,333.39. This represents a 21.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel Bley sold 3,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total value of $180,422.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,017,460.90. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,250 shares of company stock valued at $2,105,322 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Webster Financial Stock Down 2.8 %

WBS stock opened at $53.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.85 and its 200 day moving average is $50.41. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.30. Webster Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $39.33 and a 1-year high of $63.99.

Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $647.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.72 million. Webster Financial had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 18.80%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Webster Financial Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Webster Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Webster Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.28%.

Webster Financial Profile

Webster Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Webster Bank, National Association that provides a range of financial products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, HSA Bank, and Consumer Banking.